Touching minor’s chest without skin to skin contact is not sexual assault : Bombay High Court

Mumbai : The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, hearing a case on Sunday, said that an incident would be accepted as sexual assault only if there was skin-to-skin contact. The court said that mere touching in such an incident would not be considered sexual assault. The Bombay High Court has given a bizarre verdict in the sexual abuse case of a minor. The court said in one of its judgements that touching a minor’s chest without taking off her clothes cannot be called a sexual assault. The court said that such an act cannot be defined as sexual assault under the POCSO Act.

In fact, recently in the High Court, a petition of a sexual assault was heard. The accused is accused of sexually abusing a minor girl. During the hearing of the case, the court said that merely touching the minor’s chest would not be called sexual assault. The court further said that sexual assault will be called when the accused makes physical contact by removing the clothes of the victim or putting his hands in clothes.

Explain that the accused was convicted for sexual assault for touching and molesting the breast of a 12-year-old girl. However, later Justice Pushpa Ganediwala’s single judge bench changed the conviction of the accused while passing the judgement. The accused was acquitted under Section 8 of the POCSO Act, in which he could get a minimum sentence of three years.

The judge said that due to lack of information, this incident cannot be classified as sexual assault. However, the judge also said that this would come under Section 354 of the IPC. The court said in its judgement that the definition of sexual assault should include physical contact or direct physical contact.